There has always been a need for humans to provide themselves with a constant and consistent supply of water. This need is especially acute when the individual is engaged in exercise or other strenuous activity that requires the body's water supply to be replenished over a relatively short period of time. The body's need for water during exercise, and indeed during any type of physical activity, is basically two-fold in nature. First, the body utilizes water to carry out and facilitate almost all of the chemical reactions that occur in the body as it functions through movement and the exertion of force. Secondly, the body utilizes water as a mechanism for balancing its own temperature, again as a means for efficiently carrying out the chemical reactions that occur as it functions.
There are, therefore, two general concerns when addressing the requirements of the body for water during exercise or physical activity. These requirements center on the need to take water into the body by drinking and in most instances, to provide the body's skin surface with water for the purposes of temperature maintenance.
It is common knowledge that during exercise or physical activity the intake of water is essential for the body's healthy operation. The benefits of this water intake are most immediately seen in the body's efficient conversion of nutrients into the energy needed for motion and exertion and in the process of sweating, which has the effect of releasing from the body thermal energy that builds up during exertion. To the runner, bicyclist, or other participant in exercise activities, the process of sweating is the most apparent process whereby a replenishment of the body's water supply is needed. Equally apparent to the participant in strenuous activities is the need not only to drink water in order to continue the process of sweating and body temperature maintenance but also the process of dousing the skin with quantities of water for the same purpose. Participants in extremely demanding exercise activities quickly become aware that the body's own process of maintaining a thermal equilibrium through sweating is limited when the body is pushed to extremes. It quickly becomes evident that facilitating the body's thermal maintenance process by providing additional water for evaporation from the skin's surface operates to improve the well-being and efficiency of the individual exercising.
Not only it is apparent that dousing the body with water to facilitate the thermal maintenance process, helps in reaching maximum endurance, it is also apparent that certain parts of the body lend themselves better than others in this concern. It has been found that much of the body's ability to maintain a thermal equilibrium depends upon the release of heat from the head of the individual. This explains why runners, bicyclists, and the like, most frequently douse their heads with water through the use of cups or sponges while in the middle of a strenuous activity. It is not uncommon to see a race participant in a long distance running or bicycling event to receive water from a check point and both consume a portion and douse their bodies with the remaining portion. It is also quite common for such participants to pass through a water mist spray in order to fully cover their bodies with a healthy dose of external water. In either case, the body's ability to maintain a thermal equilibrium, the maintenance of which is essential for the healthy operation of the body at endurance levels, is of critical concern.
Many attempts have been made in the past to facilitate the drinking of water during exercise or other physical activities. These attempts have run the spectrum from simply providing containers with water that are readily accessible by the individual participating in the exercise or physical activity, to devices worn by the user and carried with them during the activity. One device that has come into common use is known under the trademark CAMEL BACK and was intended in its origin as a means for bicyclists to carry and access water without the problems associated with reaching for and handling a separate container. The CAMEL BACK device is described in a number of U.S. patents, most specifically U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,833. Basically, this type of water carrier comprises a flexible container worn on the user's back with a drinking tube directed from the container over the shoulder of the user to a position near the user's mouth where it is readily available for drinking. Certain valve structures in the tube permit the user to draw water from the container and not have it leak out when not in use. Various other attempts have been made in the field to provide water, either for the purposes of drinking or dousing the skin under exercise and physical activity situations. The following patents are among those in the art that address these concerns.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,526,298, issued to Boxer et al. on Jul. 2, 1985, entitled "Sport Hydration System," describes a liquid container suspended from the shoulders of the wearer. The system includes a liquid spraying device at the end of a tube connected to the liquid container.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,813, issued to Coleman on Feb. 28, 1989, entitled "Bicycle Mounted Water Toy," describes a device that includes a fluid reservoir for mounting to a bicycle. A first tube is connected to the fluid reservoir and to a pump for conveying fluid from the reservoir to a second tube that ends in a nozzle for dispersing the fluid. The nozzle of the second tube is attached to a helmet worn by the rider of the cycle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,911,339, issued to Cushing on Mar. 27, 1990, entitled "Bicycle Water Pump," describes a water pump comprised of a pressurized cylindrical container, a hand operated valve integrally connected to a sprayer nozzle, and associated tubing, all which may be mounted on a bicycle. The internal pressure of the container is used to force a stream of liquid from the container toward the rider's mouth.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,349, issued to Fawcett on Feb. 4, 1992, entitled "Resilient Valve and Dispensing System for Bicyclists," describes a unitary valve apparatus held in a person's mouth for use in a system for delivering liquid from a container to the person's mouth. The valve is placed in the user's mouth so that it can be deformed by the user's jaws, thereby opening the valve in proportion to the force exerted thereagainst and enabling flow to occur from the supply chamber.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,292, issued to McPherson on Mar. 30, 1993, entitled "Cooling Cap for Athletes," describes a cap having an upper chamber that is accessible from the top by a zipper or other closure. The bottom of the chamber is made of a sponge-like material that serves to support a quantity of ice. This sponge-like material absorbs water from the melted ice and provides the coolant water to the wearer's scalp.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,278, issued to Raynie on Dec. 6, 1994, entitled "Portable Liquid Dispensing Toy," describes a device that sprays liquid from an outlet port mounted to a headband worn by the user. The device consists of a carrier and at least one storage reservoir secured to the user by a transport belt. Liquid is pumped through the relay hose from the reservoir to the discharge chamber and subsequently through the outlet port.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,833, issued to Edison et al. on Oct. 29, 1991, entitled "Camel Back," describes a back pack made of flexible material forming an enclosure for storage of liquid which is carried between the shoulders of a bicyclist. The enclosure includes a collapsible plastic water bag and flexible tubing which leads from the lower most part of the plastic water bag to a valve device. The valve is designed to be compressed between the user's jaws whereupon the valve opens to enable liquid to flow.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,122, issued to Sher on Oct. 8, 1991, entitled "Structure of Hat With Cooling System for the Head," describes a cooling hat comprised of a covering for the head with an internal peripheral channel for fastening or holding cooling elements and a ventilating socket. The cooling elements absorb heat and reduce surface temperature to comfort the head.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,415, issued to Larsen on Mar. 12, 1991, entitled "Body Cooling Apparatus," describes a device that includes a compressor and condenser which feed liquid coolant to a flexible tube network held adjacent the body. The flexible tube network is held in a lightweight vest or other garment so that the resulting apparatus permits movement.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,579, issued to Tremblay et al. on Nov. 28, 1995, entitled "Head Cooling Device," describes a device mounted over a person's head, comprised of a housing containing ice cubes therein, the main body being offset or spaced at all times from the scalp of the wearer; a means for enabling water droplets from the melting ice cubes to escape the housing toward the wearer's scalp; and a means for use with head gear to releasably anchor the housing to the head in an overhanging fashion.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,438,707, issued to Horn on Aug. 8, 1995, entitled "Body Cooling Apparatus," describes a garment that channels pressurized air or other compressible gases through a tubing network that is incorporated into a body garment worn by the user.
Unfortunately, most of the attempts at providing a mechanism for dousing the body with water fail to provide water to the most critical parts of the body for the maintenance of thermal equilibrium. This is particularly true in the instance of those involved in the activity of bicycle riding, which partially limits the user's ability to access containers of water with their hands, which are normally occupied with maintaining balance and steering on the bicycle. The CAMEL BACK product mentioned above satisfies the need to provide readily accessible drinking water to the bicycle rider but does not address the concerns associated with the usefulness of dousing the body's skin surface with water during exercise.
Other devices that are directed at providing the body's skin surface with water, such as the Cushing patent identified above, fail to adequately and efficiently provide such water. As is most frequently the case, bicycle riders operate with the use of helmets in a manner that prevents water sprayed from an external source from landing on the head in a way that it would be useful for the maintenance of the body temperature of the user. At most, devices such as described in Cushing provide a coolant effect to the face but even this process is inefficient in that much of the water is lost to the atmosphere around the user rather than falling on the user's skin. In addition, there is no method provided to hold the water in contact with the skin resulting in much of the water rapidly running off after being sprayed on the face.
It would be desirable, therefore, to have a device capable of dousing the body's surface with water in a manner that helps the body maintain its thermal equilibrium and at the same time to not require the user to be distracted from the exercise activity itself. It would be desirable that this device be efficient in that the reservoir containing such water need not be large as would be required by a device where a major portion of the water is lost to the atmosphere around the user. It would further be desirable that this device be directed to those portions of the body of the exerciser that have been shown to be most critically in need of the additional water for the purposes of eliminating heat from the body during exercise.